This book steers a middle path between those who argue that the theories of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels have been rendered obsolete by historical events and those who reply that these theories emerge untouched from the political changes of the last ten years.

Richard Schmitt is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at Brown University. He now teaches at Assumption, Becker and Worcester State Colleges as an adjunct. Born in Germany, of Jewish parentage, he arrived in the United States in 1946. Best known for his introductory texts to Heidegger and to Marx and Engels, he has written widely about existentialism and political philosophy. Alienation,a topic at the intersection of Existentialism and Political Philosophy,has been a lifelong concern of his.

Preface to the Second Edition -- Introduction -- Human Nature -- Against Individualism -- History -- The Dialectic -- Historical Materialism -- Materialism and Idealism -- Ideology -- Capitalism -- Capitalism and Exploitation -- Alienation -- The Future of Capitalism and Its Failures -- What Are Classes? -- Class Struggles -- The State -- Utopian and Scientific Socialism -- Socialism